GCSE extra time allowed

A bit of a rant here, feel that we have let our dd down a little and it may be too late to do anything about it. Well here goes.

DD is a late august bday and had always struggled at school, she doesn't find school easy, lacks confidence and is very quiet. Her reading age has always been below her actual age, Her predicted gcse grades are passes, just about, mocks backed this up.

Anyway had just come to our attention that you can request actual time in the exams, well if there ever was s candidate for this I would think it would be our dd. Even though she has never been diagnosed with any form of learning dissability or is under Senco.

I'm not sure I strictly agree with it though, feel that it should be a level playing field for all children regardless of any issues (but that's without thinking it through to much, don't want to get into a argument over that). Actually I think if we had pushed we could probably get her diagnosed with something.

Anyway it has come to light that loads of kids do this at her school, even ones that are grade 1 students with also no diagnosis. Her best friend who is a straight grade 1 student has been awarded this extra time and she is a sept birthday, so almost a clear year older than our dd and a very intelligent child.

We are trying to get my dd awarded this extra time but it looks like now it is too late. We didn't even know this was an option.

So we feel a bit let down by the school and a bit cheated by the education system/exam system. How can straight grade 1 students get this and grade 4/5 students with a low reading age not get it. Is it a case of who shouts the loudest?

It's nothing to do with age. Extra time is awarded by exam bodies not by the school. Your daughter would have to be assessed by a qualified assessor who looks at reading ability and speed. The results of that assessment are referred to the relevant exam board for them to decide if extra time is allowed.

You are too late for this year as you will struggle to get it done in time. Being young with no diagnosis doesn’t mean she needs extra time, it is a level playing field to help those who do have a diagnosed issue.

It depends really, it is not easy to qualify for extra time as JCQ regulations are strict. Ds had extra time until mock GCSEs then was too borderline. Ironically he now does again for uni exams. For example, she would need to be tested and score 84 or below for processing. Adjustments also have to be the normal way of working. It is theoretically possible to still do this in time to submit a request for this summer but realistically unlikely unless the school SENCO is suitably qualified to administer the assessment in-house and can report within the next 2 weeks.

My son gets extra time as he is dyslexic. He is predicted pretty good grades, he just needs extra time to process the written word. We and the school worked bloody hard to get him assessed for this. This makes the playing field level for him, it doesn't disadvantage others.

The pupils with extra time getting high grades will have had a diagnosis and tests etc to qualify for it and will need it. Pupils with dyslexia can still get high grades, they just needed that extra time and will hopefully have had that in place since year 7. Hence why they have kept up and not fallen behind due to a processing need.

It is nothing to do with birthdays!

And to not want an argument when you've just said you don't agree with extra time for those who need it even those with issues is staggering! Some kids are pushing their way through school with cerebral palsy or suchlike - yet you think they should not receive 15 minutes of time to help them get through the paper - but August birthdays should?And "if we'd pushed we could probably get her diagnosed with something" is so wrong. Kids with genuine needs are struggling everyday to get diagnosed in order to access correct treatments or help and you just undermine that with your whining about an intelligent child doing well. People with dyslexia can be intelligent you know

But I know how people with no sen have it, how is that fair, my dd is below her actually reading age, so has problems reading but that is not classed as a problem. How can age not make a difference, there is a huge difference in being 1 year ahead of the youngest person in the class.

I've been told that all they have to do is a sit a test and they can easily flunk it if they want too. How can a straight grade 1 student qualify for extra time at all, they are Straight top grades so to me they really don't need it.

We didn't think was an option, it's just now been proved to me that the exams aren't a level playing field at all. I don't necessarily want her to have extra time, I just want her to be given the same benefits as everybody else and there seems to be a big chunk of kids that seem to be able to get the school and exam boards wrapped around their little fingers. After all it's far easier to fail a test that to do well.

Just want to add, the person who has just completed her mocks with grade 1s across the board has no other issues or Sen, She is a very bright child, she told me she just had to fail a test to get awarded the extra time. How is that fair?

I am not totally stupid and understand that there are many children with very special needs and I would not way want to compare to that, and I would expect them to get the extra help they need, but I am angry about the many kids that just lie to get the extra time. My dd has a reading age 4 years below her age, I don't need an official diagnosis to believe that's a issue.

No you are misunderstanding. There are various tests as part of an assessment which when combined produce processing speeds. It is not one single test to flunk. You can be bright and have sen, and many splds are "hidden". You seem reluctant to accept the possibility that your dc may simply be average rather than disadvantaged.

DD is a late august bday and had always struggled at school, she doesn't find school easy, lacks confidence and is very quiet. Her reading age has always been below her actual age, Her predicted gcse grades are passes, just about, mocks backed this up.

Your DD being an august baby has no bearing on exam time. The lacking confidence and being quiet doesn't either. The fact that her reading age is low and she is predicated to just scrape passes, well that's just unfortunately her ability.

She is not disadvantaged. I have never said she is disadvantaged, I except that children with special needs need to have extra help. I just fail to see how clever bright children that I know well are allowed the extra time WITH NO SPECIAL NEEDS, I know the kids parents and they think it's highly amusing that the child has managed to swing it that she gets 15 mins more, and my dd who struggles reading can't.

As I said I don't actually want her to have an extra time, I just want all the kids with no sen/learning difficulties to be in the same boat as her. And it appears to be that nots always the case, so instead of personally attacking me perhaps some people just need to read my post.

Speaking as an external examination invigilator, I can tell you that the percentage of children who actually use their extra time and don’t walk out of the hall with everyone else is extremely low. Very low indeed. I often wonder if their parents ever find out that they didn’t use their time.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get extra time? Try it and see. Perhaps these other people (who you don’t know everything about) don’t want to talk about their children’s SEN with you. I don’t blame them.

We're not attacking you. Just putting straight some of the things you've said. I saw many pupils at my daughters school try and pretend not to have SEN needs as they were embarrassed. And you just cannot see what struggles are behind the scenes. But of course they used their extra time.

If however a child has genuinely cheated, perhaps you need to approach the school if you are this angry. Is it a state school?

Oh and I have a clever bright child who should do average/well. He has special needs. Not all special needs make you not clever or bright. And you absolutely cannot see his. Just something to think about.

Google "JCQ special consideration" for information on access arrangements.If you think your school has been obtaining special exam considerations such as extra time unfairly, contact JCQ and they'll investigate.I know of a 6th former who persuaded her teacher to refer her for testing for extra time. She deliberately wrote unbelievably slowly during the test, giving her a result that should have awarded her extra time. Luckily our SENDCO isn't daft and she had a look at other evidence such as in-class timed essays and previous mock exam papers, then asked the girl how she'd managed to write so fast, legibly and coherently before. Girl couldn't answer and neither could parents, and the request for considration was dropped. I suspect your SENDCO might not have been as rigorous as ours.

Leave the date of birth element out of it. It generalises that all summer born kids are disadvantaged in their class, which is not the case.

Also, students don't have to have a diagnosis to qualify for extra time. There could be any number of reasons. I recall people having extra time as they had hearing loss, but this wasn't necessarily obvious to most people, but it mattered in exams where there was an auditory element e.g. French listening exam, where different arrangements were made.

Life is not a level playing field. Abilities are not equal. If we gave all June, July & August kids extra time, what about those born on 31st May? Where does it stop?

So, all the kids who don't qualify for additional time, will be in the same boat as your daughter. There you go.

I guess I'm just a bit fed up, we have always struggled in getting my dd the help we feel that she needed and this is just to highlight the problems we have experienced. But obviously some of you think she is entitled to ne extra help. Thanks to some of you that have been very helpful. I think this proves that there is a massive abuse of the system, which to be far happens to every system.